1. Field of the Invention
A rotary sliding vane compressor having means for urging the vanes outwardly and maintaining the vane tips in engagement with the cylinder wall during start-up and at rotational low speeds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Burnett U.S. Pat. No. 3,376,825 describes a rotary vane compressor having a leaf type spring element between the radially inner portion of the vane and the bottom of the vane slot. The spring is designed so that during high speed operation, when centrifugal forces are sufficient to maintain the vane tips in contact with the cylinder wall, the same centrifugal forces will cause the spring to collapse against radially inner edges of the vane and thus become ineffective as a spring element.
English U.S. Pat. No. 1,984,365 describes a rotary sliding vane compressor having a leaf type spring in the bottom of the vane slot and having its convex side in contact with the central region of the vane edge which is essentially linear.
Kenney et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,045,014 also discloses a leaf spring with its ends embedded in the bottom of the vane.
Fuehrer U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,503 shows a sliding vane fluid handling apparatus which uses O-rings of elastomeric material underneath the vanes to bias the same outwardly.
Gibson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 1,857,276 is representative of a large number of prior art references which utilize fluid pressure underneath the vanes to maintain the vane tips in engagement with the cylinder wall.